9.4.10

A comprehensive article on genes and aggression from the New Scientist that focuses on the role of MAOA in aggression. One thing the article makes clear are the implications of a biological approach to explaining aggression for the nature nurture debate and free will and determinism:

"Bayout's history of mental illness got him a soft nine-year sentence. The defence team managed to reduce this by a further year on appeal, arguing that carrying the MAOA-L gene predisposed Bayout to violence. This is the first time that behavioural genetics has affected a sentence in a European court. But it is not the first instance of lawyers trying the "my genes made me do it" defence, which is now the subject of heated debate".